After a day long deluge of rain, the sky finally cleared on a cool April evening and 21 gamblers descended on the garage around back for yet another evening of madness that some like to call No-Limit Texas Hold-em tournament poker.
There were two new players, John - brought in by his son Colin and Michael brought in by Sheyna. And so, with the magic number of 21 reached, that could only mean one thing; time to break out the kiddie table!
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| Artsy shot #1 of 2 |
The kiddie table was surprisingly sedate, but there was plenty of action at the other two tables.
And so the evening went normally - with just two busts right before the break. The kiddie table broke, and then it was on like the proverbial Donkey Kong.
At this point, something came over the garage, a great cloud of suck-outedness, that began when my opponent somehow found a call with 88 against my 3 bet shove of QQ, and then somehow found a way to win when the board came out all hearts and one of his mighty 8's was also a heart. My queens were both black and I had to head to the rail. Or at least the folding chair off to the side.
And yes, there were plenty more suck outs to come. Just before the final table formed, at around 10pm, Randall found himself on the receiving end of this broom handle.
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| I'm assuming of course that his Q3 was a big blind special... |
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| Eric stacks his chips in Artsy shot #2 of 2 |
And then it was final table time. I want to say it formed at about 10:15. It was then nearly midnight when the money bubble burst.
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| The final table gang. |
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| And the 'in the money' gang. |
First to bust out in fifth place for his buy in back was periodic player Daniel M. who was happy enough to get unstuck before his departure.
After that Allen R., who had been on both sides of the nights suck-out-itude several times, finally succumbed to fourth place and double his buy in.
And then there were three. Jerry C. had at one point had a mountain of chips, then lost it, then regained it, then lost it, regained most of it and finally lost it. He took home $120 in third place and several bounties.
Heads up, it was the battle of the titans, who both saw their stacks sea-saw back and forth over and over in a monumental heads up battle for the title and the Tournament of Champions seat. As the dust finally cleared at just after 1:30 in the morning, we had our champion.
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| It's so late Marc's already got his eyes closed. Also the photographer was pretty tired, putting the word donkey right on Marc's head. An honest mistake. Really. |
Marc F. managed to outlast Mike P. in one of the most grueling heads up matches that I can remember. Mike P. took home $220 in second place monies, plus he had another $20 in bounties. Marc also had the same number of bounties and pocketed $300 for first place, plus the gorgeous trophy/card protector and best of all he locked up his seat for the T.O.C. Well done Marc!
The last two tournaments have finished pretty late - with the money bubble bursting at around midnight and the game itself ending at around quarter to 2. I hope everyone is okay with this, as to me it is a lot better to have more play at the end rather than to just be flipping a coin, especially with a $1000 free-roll seat up for grabs. All the same, the tournament does have to come to an end, and on the last blind level the big blind was equivalent to the evenings starting stack, which meant just over 21 big blinds total in play. That means, that it was still pretty much luck that ruled in the end. Ah well, poker.
A big thanks to everyone who came out to gamble it up and have fun. Thanks especially to Sheyna and Colin for bringing in new blood. Colin, your dad was a great addition to the game and I hope he finds time to make the journey out and join us again sometime.
Our next monthly is May 23rd, same Bat-Time same Bat-Channel. Until then, peace and we out!
